


if we're gonna go (we gotta go tonight)

by abucketofwigs



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Missed Chances, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 20:10:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19933798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abucketofwigs/pseuds/abucketofwigs
Summary: “You know,” Janis leans over, nudges Regina’s arm with her own, “I think the last time I was here I was saying that we should run away together.”“I should’ve said yes.”





	if we're gonna go (we gotta go tonight)

**Author's Note:**

> okay, so like here's this. it's the first thing I've finished in forever and yeah. sorry if they sound out of character. sorry for any grammar mistakes. will probably fix them later
> 
> Title from "The Mad Ones" performed by Emma Hunton and Krystina Alabado
> 
> Lyrics in the beginning from "Run Away With Me" performed by Emma Hunton  
> (I high key recommend that version)

_Let me be your ride out of town_

_Let me be the place that you hide_

_We can make our lives on the go_

_Run away with me_

~

Janis’ last official summer as a high school student is her favorite one. The latter half of May when school lets out and the first part of June is an awkward dance amongst her newly formed friend group of Damian and the ex-plastics. It’s weird for Janis to text anyone besides Damian, but her phone lights up with a million texts every ten minutes from the group message Cady put them all in. By the middle of June, Damian’s embraces the new friendships, and starts hanging out with the plastics by himself. Janis hangs back and waits. Damian’s always been better at the whole social thing than her anyway. 

By the Fourth of July, she’s growing use to Gretchen’s constant worrying if she’s worrying, and Karen’s jumbled words of emoji talk. Even her and Regina are able to stand in the same room and indirectly talk to each other. So, the rest of Janis’ summer is spent lounging around Gretchen’s pool, or movie nights at Cady’s. There’s even one weird weekend where their entire group drives half an hour out of town to Gretchen’s lakehouse. That was the first time her and Regina talked to each other that wasn’t a constant repeat cycle of apologies. It was nice.

Going to Regina’s big back to school party makes Janis feel uneasy. She spent the last three years not being invited all while purposely avoiding it. But now here she is playing catch up with _Shane Oman_. 

Janis coughs as the rest of the shot burns it’s way down her throat. Shane laughs, claps his hand onto her shoulder. 

“Damn, Sarkisian, I didn’t know you could put them back like that.”

Janis tries to laugh, but it comes out as a cough instead. She feels light, kind of floaty, and a little nauseous. A lot nauseous?

“I’m going to get some air.”

The wind blows through her hair once she steps onto the porch. She follows the familiar stone path down Regina’s backyard. She feels less nauseous as the drumming in her chest from the bass of the party disappears. She stops in front of the swingset, staring at the girl already sitting there. 

“The Regina George hiding away at her own party? Am I dreaming?”

Regina shoots her a small smile, “I think just drunk.”

Janis pinches her fingers together, “Just a little.”

She sits on the empty swing, looking out at the yard. Most of her childhood memories took place here. It almost feels like déjà vu being back. Janis looks at Regina who quickly looks away from her.

“You know,” Janis leans over, nudges Regina’s arm with her own, “I think the last time I was here I was saying that we should run away together.”

Regina snorts, “You tried to bribe me with peanut butter sandwiches.”

Regina turns to look at her and Janis leans away. 

“Endless supply of them.” Janis tightens her grip on the chains of the swing, “It seemed like a good deal when we were ten.”  
They laugh. Regina crosses her feet and Janis looks back out at the yard. The party’s going on loudly inside, but outside it almost feels like they’re in their own little world. Just the two of them again. 

“I should’ve said yes.”

Regina’s voice is soft like she’s telling Janis her biggest secret. Janis frowns, turns toward her. 

“I don’t remember you saying no.”

Regina folds her hands, ducks her head. She’s so different than Bitch Regina. It almost makes Janis believe that people can actually change. It makes her want to give Regina the benefit of the doubt. 

“I think I was going to.”

Janis shrugs, “We wouldn’t have made it very far anyway.”

“Yeah.” Regina huffs a laugh, “You were scared of the dark.”

Janis rolls her eyes. She wants to hear Regina really laugh. 

“Only because you forced me to watch scary movies all of the time.”

Regina laughs loud and bright. Janis ticks an invisible box in her head. She suddenly feels confident. 

“It’s never too late to change your mind.” 

Janis’ voice is soft. She turns toward Regina, their knees bumping together. Regina raises her eyebrows like she’s challenging Janis. Janis shrugs again. 

“Really? We’re at that level of spending time alone together?”

“We’re alone right now.”

Regina nods. Janis digs the toes of her shoes into the grass. 

“But you’re drunk.”

“Just a little.” Janis argues. 

Regina snorts. Janis doesn’t remember when she started counting the times she made Regina laugh as small victories. 

“Drunk is still drunk.”

Janis stares at her for a few minutes before she sighs and shifts away.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Janis stands, stretching her arms above her head. She suddenly feels awkward. Like she put too much of herself out there for Regina to reject. She really needs to never drink again. “I should get back inside and find Cady.”

Regina nods, “Ye-Yeah, I’ll see you in there.”

Janis wants to ask Regina to just walk back to the party with her, but she doesn’t. She walks back inside alone. 

~

“You and Regina were talking for a while.”

Cady ambushes her by the beer cooler. Janis blinks at her. 

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” 

Janis frowns; Cady’s been trying to push them together for the past two months. Cady nods, reaches her hand out to grab Janis’ arm. Her movements are slow almost sluggish. Someone’s going to have to stop her from drinking soon. 

“Yeah!” Cady yells in her ear. Janis winces. Cady grins at her, “It just seemed kind of intimate?”

Cady’s fingers twist in Janis’ sweatshirt. Janis’ stomach knots.

_Shit shit shit._

Regina walks in from the backyard. Janis locks eyes with her, forces a small smile. Did she mess everything up earlier? 

“Yo, Sarkisian, be my partner in beer pong!”

_Thank God for Shane Oman._

Janis steps away from Cady, “Yup, let’s go kick some ass.”

Shane fist bumps her. Regina shoots her an amused look as Shane pulls Janis away to the garage. They’re going to be okay.

~

Janis first week back to school is spent watching the whole student body, mostly the now seniors, walk on eggshells around Regina. It’s comical, and for the most part Regina holds in her bitchy insults and petty remarks. The only time she snaps is when Mike T almost runs into her in the hallway on the third official day in. Janis hasn’t seen him in the lunchroom since. 

The first week back to school also means Friday is the first pep rally of the school year. Janis normally skips with Damian, but Karen’s newfound status as a cheerleader makes Damian, Gretchen, and Cady want to stand front and center. Damian and Gretchen follow along with the cheerleaders with practiced ease while Cady’s ten seconds out of step, arms flailing wildly. Janis stands on the first set of bleachers next to Regina. Their shoulders brush with every clap of Regina’s hands. 

Everyone’s eyes keep looking at Regina like she’s about to crumble to the ground without her spinal halo. Regina’s new celebrity status as ‘The girl who lived’ is almost too much to handle. Janis wonders if it’s pissing Regina off as much as it is her. 

“You’re supposed to be watching Karen.”

Regina shoots her a teasing smile. Janis leans closer to her.

“Everyone keeps looking at you.”

The band changes from the fight song to another cheer beat. Regina flips her hair over her shoulder, her eyes never leaving Karen. 

“Of course they are.”

Regina’s use to the stares. She’s _Regina George_. She once lived for people looking at her. Janis isn’t like her. She’s actively tried to avoid people staring at her like this since eighth grade. Janis shifts her weight back and forth, the bleachers creaking underneath her. The knots twist and turn in her stomach. 

“Hey,” Janis leans back closer to her chest. Regina looks back at her. “Do you want to get out of here?”

Janis kicks herself for sounding so nervous. 

Regina frowns, “I promised Karen that I would stick around after, so we could take a group picture.”

Regina’s not the type of person who bails on her friends anymore. She sticks around to cheer them on whether Regina has an interest in what they’re doing or not. She’s trying to be a good friend. To be a good person. 

Janis feels so stupid for even asking her to break one of her promises. 

“Yeah, right, sorry. I forgot.”

Janis leans away. Regina frowns at her, stops clapping like she’s going to reach out. She doesn’t.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

Janis takes a small step away from her. 

~

“You know that binge watching a show on Netflix isn’t a good enough excuse for skipping, right?”

Janis drops the packet of Regina’s homework onto her desk. Regina glares at her from the bed. 

“No, but using the ‘I got his by a bus six months ago’ card might.” 

She tosses her phone to the end of the bed, leans back against the pillows. Janis nods, awkwardly stands at the edge. They haven’t hung out alone since that night at Regina’s party, and sometimes Janis feels like she doesn’t know how to act around her. She spent so long suppressing her feelings for Regina that they’re overwhelming and-

“Why are you being so weird?”

Janis folds her arms, “I’m not being weird. You are.”

Regina rolls her eyes, “Oh my god, just sit down.”

“Fine.”

Janis sits down slowly on the bed, crosses her legs underneath her. Regina picks at her fingernails. 

“Have you taken your pain meds today? Is your back hurting-”

Regina cuts her off, “I didn’t skip because of my back.”

Janis shifts closer to her. Regina sits up straighter against the headboard, wincing a little. 

“What’s up? It was senior portrait day.” Janis folds her hands in her lap, “I thought that you’d be the first in line all dolled up.”

“Ew, never say dolled up again.” Regina’s nostrils flare. She ducks her head. “I’m just tired of everyone looking at me like I’m going to have a mental breakdown at any moment.”

Janis opens her mouth, “But-”

“I know that I’ve been through a lot, and I technically died, but they keep looking at me like at any minute I’m going to fly off the handle and be the judgemental bitch that I was again, and I don’t want _that_ .” Regina wipes at her eyes like she’s about to cry and Janis really doesn’t want that. “I’ve been trying to have more patience and to be more caring, and it’s like everyone just thinks it’s all an act to get more attention. I promised Gretchen and Cady and _you_ that I would try and change to be better, and I have been. I’ve been trying, but it just feels like no one believes me.”

Janis slides her hand into Regina’s, squeezes. Her heart hurts for Regina. She’s made progress. She listens to Cady and the mathletes talk about their competition strategies and goes to Damian’s play practices, and the other day she helped Sonja pick up her books off the floor when someone ran into her. Janis honestly thought that Sonja was going to faint. Regina’s trying so hard, but it still feels like the whole school is on the edge of their seats waiting for World Burn Part Two. 

“I believe you.”

Regina lets go of her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. And Janis watches helplessly as Regina holds in the rest of them. She wishes she could take away all of the self doubt Regina’s feeling. Make it where Regina’s as confident as a person who actually cares about other people as she was as head of the plastics. Regina laughs bitterly, buries her face in her hands.

“You might be the only one.”

Janis shakes her head, scoots even closer to pull Regina’s hands into her own. 

“Cady does, too. You should hear her talk about how proud she is of you.” Janis shoots her a small smile. “Gretchen believes you, too. She’s not afraid to be herself around you anymore, and I’ve never seen you two act more like best friends. We all know how hard you’re trying to change, Regina, I wouldn’t be here if I thought you were just trying to play a game on us.”

Janis wipes the tears from her cheeks. Regina swallows. 

“Janis?”

“Yeah?”

Regina reaches out to slide her arms around Janis’ body. Janis holds her tight, lets her cry into her shoulder. They’ve come so far. Janis wants to offer running away again; just drive out of town and never look back. Leave North Shore and their past behind, only focus on the future and where to go next. She doesn’t, though. She just holds Regina close to her because that’s all she can do. 

~

Shane Oman’s party is a lot less contained than Regina’s was. Maybe it’s because it’s Halloween. Or because North Shore’s football team finally made it to the playoffs for the first time ever, but something causes half the party to act absolutely apeshit. It’s almost worse than Cady’s one and only house party the year before. 

Janis doesn’t join the crowd on the dance floor in Shane’s too big of a living room, instead leans against the wall in the corner nursing a cup of sprite and watching Damian flirt with one of the football players. It’s a downgrade from his previous hookups, but Janis can tell with the way the guy is leaning closer toward Damian that he’s about got him wrapped around his finger. 

Janis watches Regina stumble through the crowd, eyes lighting up when she meets Janis’. 

“I’ve been looking for you!”

Regina reaches out blindly for her. Janis pushes off from the wall to steady her. A few people laugh at Regina’s clumsy drunkness, but no one makes a nasty comment. 

“I think you found the alcohol instead.”

Regina slips her arms around Janis’ waist, holding her hands together behind Janis’ back. She grins at her. 

“I lost against Shane in beer pong.”

Janis snorts, “Of course you did.”

Regina’s brow furrows as she stares at Janis. The beat of the song changes and Janis looks away from her. 

“Let’s get you some water.”

Janis tries to step forward with Regina, but the other girl doesn’t move. Janis looks at her. Regina’s face is furrowed in concentration. She’s nervously chewing her lip. 

“If you asked me now I’d say yes.”

Janis blinks at her, “What?”

Regina doesn’t hesitate, “If you asked me to run away with you now I’d say yes.”

Janis almost drops her drink. She lets out a slow breath. Her heart thumps loudly in her chest. 

“Now who’s the drunk one?”

Regina shrugs, “It’s what I want, you know. I want to be with you.” Janis clenches her jaw, moves to step away. Regina holds her in place. “I’ve wanted it since I was thirteen.”

Janis steps away from Regina, sets her cup on a table before turning back to her. Regina’s looking at her with those big blue eyes and head held high with confidence. Janis feels the butterflies in her stomach. She also feels like she can’t breathe.

“You’re drunk, Regina.”

“Then you know I’m being honest.”

Janis shakes her head. This is too important to talk about in Shane Oman’s living room with the entire senior class around them. This is too important to talk about while Regina’s drunk. When she won’t remember it in the morning. 

“Tell me again when you’re sober.” Janis pushes lightly at Regina’s shoulders, “Let’s go get you some water.”

Regina plants her feet, pouts like a toddler. Regina narrows her eyes.

“Janis-”

“It’s not a no.” Janis almost sounds breathless, “It’s a later, okay? You’re drunk and I’m not.”

Regina deflates. 

“Okay, later.”

She twists her hand into Janis’ before leading them to kitchen. Janis feels like she might suffocate.

~

Janis decides five minutes in that spring fling as a senior is definitely a lot more boring than spring fling as a junior was. Maybe it’s from the lack of drama, or the fact that the DJ keeps playing pop songs that she doesn’t know. Cady’s on the dance floor with the mathletes, and Damian’s dancing closely with the football player that’s somehow still around. Gretchen and Karen disappeared a while ago. 

“Why are you always by yourself?”

Regina walks toward her with a bright grin. Everytime Janis looks at her in her light pink dress her breath catches. Janis has never seen her look more carefree; not even last year when she was high off of pain meds the entire night.

“I’m always waiting for you.”

Regina looks so beautiful and Janis is so tired of waiting for something to happen between them.

Regina playfully rolls her eyes, “Is it just me or is this lamer than last year?”

Janis smiles, nudges Regina’s arm with her elbow. 

“I think it’s sober you.”

Regina scoffs, but her entire face lights up with a smile. Janis slides her hands into the pockets of her blazer, ducks her head. 

“Do you wanna-”

“Hey-”

They both laugh. Regina bites her lip, nods her head. 

“You first.”

Janis clears her throat, shifts her weight. 

“So, two choices, okay?” She waits for Regina to nod before she continues, “We can either dance to this awful music, or we can go for a walk, or get burgers or something.”

Regina’s eyes light up. She takes a small step toward her. 

“We could go get cheese fries.”

The music shifts to a ‘90’s pop song. The entire dance floor groans before continuing to dance. 

“Cheese fries sound a lot better than this.”

Regina drives them to sonic, and Janis holds her hand. The rest of their night is filled with laughing and flirting. It feels like the best first date Janis has ever had. 

~

“I leave for New York next week.”

Regina’s voice is soft in the small space between them. Janis nods, runs her fingers through Regina’s hair. The seat belt buckle digs into her back, but she doesn’t move. She won’t have small moments like this with Regina for much longer, and she’s not about to waste any opportunities she has to hold her. Summer’s almost up.

“Off to your fancy business school.”

Regina snorts, “Something like that.”

Janis hums, kisses the top of her head. Regina turns into her more, breathes in her smell. 

“I’ll be there in a few months to visit.” Janis says. 

Regina shifts to look up at her. Janis is wearing that fond expression that Regina’s only ever seen when Janis looks at her. Regina hates that she waited so long to allow herself to love that look on Janis’ face. That she fought her feelings for so long. There was so many missed chances with them. She could’ve had this so much sooner if she hadn’t been so scared. 

“Or you could come with me next week.”

Janis’ eyebrows furrow. She quickly sits up straight, forcing Regina to move. 

“What?”

Regina shrugs, “I know you’re still waiting to get into the art program and that you won’t know for a while, but it’d be better if you’re already there with me.”

Janis shakes her head, “I can’t just leave, ‘Gina, I’m taking classes here.”

“Yeah, but me and Damian will be in New York.” Regina plays with the hem of Janis’ shirt, “You’re two favorite people in their favorite city without you.”

Janis cracks a smile at that, reaches out to smooth the worry lines from Regina’s forehead. She kisses Regina softly, slowly. 

“I’m going to miss you, too, you know.”

Regina sighs, “I know.” She chews on her lower lip, shakes her head. “If you come I promise they’ll be an endless supply of peanut butter sandwiches.”

Janis laughs against her lips, “I think I’ve heard that line before.”

“It was worth a shot.”

Janis hums, “Just a few months. We got this.”

~

They’re lying in bed together both still high off being engaged and each other. Janis shifts closer to Regina, presses small kisses into the curve of her neck.

“We’re getting married.” Regina whispers. 

Janis pulls back. The sun’s just barely peeking through the curtains of their small bedroom. A car horn echoes from outside because New York can never let them have a peaceful moment. Regina tightens her hold on Janis, traces patterns with her fingers across her back. 

Janis can’t believe that she’s twenty-three, living in New York, and _engaged_ to the love of her life. How did she get so lucky?

“After a few months of planning.”

Regina leans forward and kisses her. 

“Or we could go now.”

“What?” Janis pulls away, slides her hand up the side of Regina’s neck. “We just got engaged last night.”

“And?” Regina presses forward, causing the sheets to rustle, “The courthouse isn’t far.”

“Our moms’ would kill us. Besides don’t you want the white dresses and fancy reception? You know the whole shebang.”

Regina’s nose scrunches, “Okay, never call our wedding a shebang.”

Janis laughs. Regina sits up straighter, brushes Janis’ hair away from her face. 

“I don’t want to wait to marry you, Janis. I’ve been waiting forever.” She slides her hands down Janis’ arms to hold her hands, “We can have the dresses and expensive wedding cake later, but right now I just want you. I want it to just be for us.”

Regina swallows, blinks quickly to keep herself from crying. Janis kisses her. 

“Is this us finally running away together?”

Regina laughs, “Ten minutes to the courthouse maybe,” She kisses Janis. “But I do promise you an endless supply of peanut butter sandwiches.”

Janis laughs. Her chest feels warm, and she’s so in love with Regina George. 

“Let’s get married today.”

“Yeah?” Regina breathes. 

Janis nods, cups her face in her hands, “Yeah.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Tumblr: abucketofwigs


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